Be Careful What You Wish For, It Might Come True
by nix.mixx.94
Summary: Everyday when she was a child, Emma used to wish for a family but when it finally comes true and she's spent years of her life in a fairy tale she can't help but feel like she never wanted this and she wants nothing more but for things to go back to how they were. Inspired by Emma's desire to go back to New York. Set 3x19 & 3x20.
1. Chapter 1

_This idea popped up in my head. I haven't written any OUAT but I love reading it. I really wanted to read a story about Emma and her going back to New York, mostly alone, and her feeling replaced by Regina and the baby. (If anyone knows a story like this let me know). I wrote my own spin, I hope you enjoy it. I don't own OUAT. _

The one thing that you could say remains consistent through all the fairytales you've heard growing up is to be carful of what you wish for. No one ever tells you that getting what you always wanted may not be as great as it seems. Growing up an orphan you dream of a family that loves you, you dream that the reason they couldn't keep you is because they had to go save the world and they were only protecting you. Every orphan has these dreams and they always wish to reunite with their perfect family only to be disappointed when no one comes for them.

These dreams are what give us orphans hope that someday everything would be all right. Unfortunately, it very rarely ever does, and by the time you turn 18 the world sucks and it brings you down. You never had anyone who loves you as any child should always be loved, you are let down by so many people that you become jaded to everything and expect nothing from anyone which leads to learning to rely on nobody but your self. No matter what happens after, once an orphan always an orphan.

Emma Swan learned this the hard way. After 28 years full of betrayal and abandonment you learn that being on your own is better. You may get sucked in to a perfect life, the literal fairytale family, but in the end you feel like you never belong and its only you against the world. When she gave Henry up for adoption over 10 years ago she knew she was going the right thing, he would have a family right from the start and have people who loved him as their own, he would never have to know the horrors of foster care.

Emma knew that when Henry came for her, he needed someone to save him but also to teach him that he truly was loved by Regina. When Emma saw that Regina's true love kiss to Henry broke the curse her heart broke but something inside of her saw that Henry truly belonged with Regina. The year that they shared in New York, fake memories courtesy of Regina, had shown her that as long of Henry was truly loved they could get through anything. When she 'remembered' the decision to keep Henry she also remembered the struggles to keep food on the table, for the first 5 years of his life she had worked constantly and barely ever saw him. When Emma landed her bail bonds person job she became a better mother for it. Looking back through the last year she remembered all of the times when she had thought, only for a moment, that she should have given Henry up and that something wasn't right.

Her memories of raising Henry had been great and something she always dreamed of but it was also false, deep down there was a reason that she gave him up and she could feel those reasons trickling in as she watched Regina interact with Henry as his mom for the first time since coming to Storybrooke. Her insecurities and her gut told her that this was his home and he should stay here. Emma always trusted her instincts; it had gotten her through many abusive foster care situations. Unlike Emma's first interactions with Regina, her superpower picked up no detection of a lie when Regina said that she loved Henry.

A large part of Emma didn't want Henry to remember life in Storybrooke because she knew that is he remembered than he would realize his true home. As selfish as it was, she wished that he could remain naïve to Storybrooke and they could continue living their cursed fairytale life in New York just the two of them, they could continue pretending that everything was perfect and that they were both 100% happy and had everything that they ever wanted.

When Emma looked around the boathouse she realized that she never felt more alone than in this moment. Henry was with Regina and Robin Hood catching up on the missing year. Mary Margaret and David, her parents, were huddled together and caught up in their memories, David had died and their true love had saved them again. They even had another child on the way, one that they wouldn't have to give up. She knew that they would defeat Zelena and that they would come out on top like they always do, together. Emma was being replaced: Regina was now taking over the role of Henry's mom and Mary Margaret and David would have a new baby any day now. The only people that she even remotely cared about were either dead or had found replacements. She couldn't help but feel like she was being squeezed out of her own life.

Emma couldn't help but feel like she was watching a fairy tale rather than being part of these moments. She had always felt like she was on the outside of every moment and this was no differed. Snow and Charming would have another heir and product of true love, one they could raise and love its whole life. The child would grow up being loved and feeling wanted, something that Emma felt she never had. She could feel the angst stir up inside of her along with a hint of jealousy towards her unborn sibling. Emma decided that she needed to get some air so she could finally breath.

Emma walked towards the docks and stood at the edge staring out at the endless water. There was one consistent thing that Emma could always rely on and that was herself. She started to picture her life after Storybrooke, when Zelena was defeated, and she always saw herself back in New York but the thing was Henry wasn't around. There was still his presence, holidays and visits where she would see him, but in her gut she knew that he would end up in Storybrooke. The trouble was that Emma had no longing to stay and the thought of being here caused so much anxiety in her.

She heard footsteps behind her. There was a single person, too loud to be Henry, and the swoosh of leather left one choice, Hook. The footsteps stopped, he wasn't right behind her but she could feel him near her, she could feel his apprehensiveness to approach her especially after keeping Zelena's curse a secret from her. For some reason she trusted him more than she trusted anyone else in the world and his secret hurt her.

After a deep breath Emma turned around and saw Hook 10 feet behind her. He was good at reading when she really needed space and when to push her buttons. Now was the time for space, so he decided to let her make the first move.

Emma spotted the wooden crates at the side of the dock and sat on one of them. After a moment she nodded her head towards Hook and motioned for him to sit beside her. He complied. They sat in silence, Emma was thinking of what to say and Hook was just anxious for Emma's reaction. He was debating what she was going to do to him when she finally spoke up.

"I don't hate you for this." Emma finally looked Hook in the face. "In my memories I was always the one looking out for Henry, it was just the two of us. We only had each other. I know what it was like to keep a secret, when I was trying to keep the truth about Storybrooke from Henry I thought that I was doing it so that I could protect him and I didn't want to cause him any pain." The corner of Hook's lip twitched up in a smile at Emma's words. "but the truth was that I didn't want him to remember because if he didn't know about his life before hand than we could leave, get out of town and never come back and he would still be my son."

Hook's expression changed when Emma finally admitted her feelings. He could feel Emma's loss, with Henry gaining his memories back came along with the truth that she never really had him and he wasn't hers to keep. Hook felt guilty because bringing her the memory potion was what changed her life.

"Emma, love, I'm sorry." Killian said and Emma looked him straight in the eyes. "I am sorry for keeping the curse a secret. Most of all I feel guilty for bringing back your memories but I am not sorry for that because I got to see you again." Emma's lips twitched into a quick smile but she quickly composed herself. An idea came to her.

"Hook." Emma said seriously, "Killian" she softened up a bit. "I forgive you for everything." She put her hand over his. " I need you to do one thing for me."

"Anything". Hook replied straight away. There wasn't anything in the world that he wouldn't do for her.

"When the time comes I need you to kiss me." His eyes opened in shock and he looked like her was going to object but Emma ignored him and continued, "After Zelena is defeated, I want you to take away my magic. I don't want to be the savior. If there is one thing that I know it is that the people here, they can take care of themselves and with Regina saving people things really have changed. I don't need to worry about her any more. I don't need to worry about Henry."

"You're going back to New York." Killian knew deep down that she couldn't stay. Being an orphan himself he knew some of what she was feeling. Her parents were here, her unborn sibling, her son, him, but the more that he looked into her eyes the more that he could see she had thought this through. Emma was truly resolved on this issue. Killian knew that Emma would never fully leave her boy behind, they would stay in touch and see each other a lot.

"Yes." Emma simply stated.

Killian recognized the look of the orphan again in her eyes and mixed with her stubbornness he knew that there was no way to stop her so that left no choice to him but to join her. He raised his hook to lightly trail the stray piece of hair and place it behind her ear.

"When do we leave, love?" Killian's cocky smirk filled his face and Emma found herself smiling back at him.


	2. Chapter 2

Emma thought that it would have been harder to act normal after the deal that she had made with Hook. When she was walking downtown with David and Henry, she saw Hook exiting The Rabbit Hole, David had mumbled a curse under his breath when he saw him which caused him to miss the quick look that Emma and Hook had shared, but Henry caught it, he was smart enough not to comment on it. They continued walking and ended up at Granny's to pick up lunch for the very pregnant Mary Margaret.

She felt lighter ever since making the decision to leave. From the time that she came to Storybrooke, 3 years back, she had felt an unbearable weight on her shoulders, her long lost son appearing and being the savior did that to a person. Knowing that she was no longer needed and that if she left everyone would be taken care of and able to function without her made Emma feel light as a feather.

When dinner came around it was an unspoken decision for Henry's whole family to sit down and have the first Mills-Swan-Charming-Rumplestiltsken-Hood meal. Regina brought Robin Hood who in turn brought his son Roland, Henry was playing with Roland around their parents in the living room. Mary Margaret and David were talking with Belle around a table, from what Emma could hear they were discussing dragon slaying; Belle was explaining a book she used to have about dragons and David was recounting his encounter with a dragon . Mary Margaret, Snow White Emma remembered to correct, had her hands rested on her unborn child while David, Charming, had his arm around the back of Snow's chair.

Emma looked around the room and wished that the damn pirate was here; he had been her source of sanity since he brought Henry and her back from New York. Everyone thought that they were still fighting so he wouldn't be here, that and the fact that Rumplestiltsken and him in the same room was still a no-no. That left Emma alone to wander around the house and made her stuck in her thoughts.

When she gave Henry up for adoption she knew that she had no means to take care of him. How could she be a good mother when all she had to her name was the stolen car that Neal gave her? There was a part of her that knew he was better of without her in a loving family and she was always better off by her self. When Henry first dragged her to Storybrooke and her superpower detected Regina's lie about loving Henry, Emma stayed to protect him. Now that she knew that Regina truly loved him she felt he would be safe with her and he finally had what she always wished for him, a loving home. She would miss him when she left but Emma would make sure that Henry always knew how much she loved him and try to make him understand that Storybrooke wasn't her home. Regina was right about one thing; she was too free of a spirit to stay in one place for too long, even if her family was there.

Before Emma realized it she has left Regina's house and had gotten in her car without saying goodbye to anyone. They probably hadn't noticed that she left yet anyways. She seemed to have unconsciously driven to the docks. Although the Jolly Roger wasn't in Hook's possession she knew that he wouldn't venture far from the sea.

Emma parked the yellow bug and walked towards the foggy end of the docks, something was pulling her there. She suddenly got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something was wrong. She quickens her pace to a jog and in the distance spotted two figures. It looked like one was being held down by the other in the ocean. She was still the Sheriff of this town and her instincts came out. She grabbed the gun from her hip and sprinted towards the figures.

As she came within 10 feet she saw that it was Zelena. She was holding down a struggling man in a leather coat and he was drowning. Zelena noticed Emma had joined them.

"Perfect timing Saviour."

"Let him go." Emma pointed the gun at Zelena.

"That barbaric toy isn't going to cause me any harm." With a wave of her hand, Zelena had transported Emma's gun into the middle of the ocean and not once stopped her task.

"What do you want?" Emma growled out.

"This is where you make a choice. Save the pirate and give up your powers or keep your powers and your precious pirate will rot." Zelena brought the now still man out of the water and threw him to the ground.

It was then that Emma realized that it was Hook, Killian was dead. Emma was about to use her magic to throw a very powerful fireball at Zelena when she noticed the green smoke indicating the Zelena had left.

Emma focused her attention back to Killian. There was no way she wasn't going to save him. Just looking at him lying there made her heart ache in a way that it hasn't since Emma was 3 and the Swans told her that they were having a baby and they didn't want her anymore. Hook was not going to abandon Emma; he was not going to die.

Without much thought she rolled him onto his back and started chest compression to make the damn pirate breathe again. Once she reached ten she tilted his head back and, without hesitation, pressed her lips to his and breathed life into him. Emma could feel the magic leave her body but she paid it no attention as Killian was still lying there breathless and without a pulse.

"Come one Killian. Breathe. Breathe for me. Damn it breathe." Emma kept repeating.

Emma continues her compressions and the third time she breathed air into his lungs he finally responded. He was coughing and water was pouring out of his mouth.

Without thinking, Emma grabbed Hook and pulled his upped body over her legs. She was cradling his head and stroking his hair back as he was catching his breath.

"You're okay. Steady breathes. I've got you" Emma was trying to get him to calm down. He was freaking out, understandably, from the water leaving his lungs.

Hook finally reached a semblance of calm and looked up to meet Emma's eyes. His grip on her shirt was pretty tight so he loosened it.

"Thanks love." Killian said in his signature smirk. "You didn't have to do that. You shouldn't have done that." He finally realized what she had truly done. Her magic was gone and he had taken it from her.

"Hey" Emma grabbed Hook's attention before he started to feel guilty. " This was the plan, sure the timing was moved up and you shouldn't have died for us to do this but we are where we should be." Emma suddenly felt better than she had in a long time, she felt free.

"But now Zelena took your powers away and that witch has no one who can stop her." Killian was wondering why Emma wasn't worried about her family.

"But we don't have to worry, this isn't our fight anymore. True love's magic is the truest form of white magic and now Regina is capable of that. She can take her sister down. We aren't needed her anymore. I'm not needed here anymore". Everything became so clear to Emma in that moment. She could leave now and there was no need to worry about leaving the town unprotecting.

Hook had sat up and was sitting beside Emma. He thought over what Emma had said and knew that she was right. He still felt bad about leaving with her when she would be leaving her son behind, it reminded him of Milah. Except this time he knew that her son was safe and in capable hands.

"What are we waiting for?" Hook stood up and grabbed Emma's hand to help her up. Emma led him to her yellow bug; Killian was a tad wobbly on his feet so when she put an arm around his waist and his went over her shoulder, she pretended it was to help him walk. In reality she had never felt safer in anyone's embrace than she did in this moment, she had never been happier.

"The beginning of the rest of our lives." Emma commented as they drove past the 'You're Now Leaving Storybrooke' sign. She felt as if she was leaving behind the Saviour and being just Emma. Something that she hadn't been since she was brought into this world.

Emma's face lit up in a genuine smile. For the first time in forever she could see a happy ending for herself, one that may even include the damn pirate.

* * *

Sorry for the long wait. Let me know what you think!


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